I’m flattered to discover that What We Found in the Sofa will be the October 2014 selection of the Virtual Book Club, where the discussions take place on Twitter using the hashtag #virtualbookclub.

When I was growing up, we used to call a hashtag the “pound sign,” and it only came up during particularly complicated phone calls. (When Lewis Carroll was growing up, the pound sign was £, which is why Carroll never tweeted, except on those rare occasions when he imitated a jubjub.)

Sofa is on the 2014 list with only ten other books, and the company is very good. Kate DiCamillo picked up the Newbery Award earlier this year and was allowed to keep it, whereas when I picked it up I got my hand slapped and was told I was getting fingerprints all over it and what was I doing in that part of the building, anyway?

What concerns me, though, is my book’s getting the month of October. I am really hoping to participate in the conversation, but October is my busiest month, since the proprietors of corn mazes and spook houses like to hire me because I require so little make-up. (Last year, when I was shopping at our local mall’s Halloween store, a small boy wanted his parents to buy me for their front yard. It was embarrassing, but we finally agreed to a one-week rental.) So I’m eagerly awaiting word on what day in October my book will be discussed.

Me, last October. I'm wearing a prototype Google Pumpkin, and catching up on my email.